The present disclosure relates to metrology instruments that measure the three-dimensional coordinates of points on an object, and more particularly, to a metrology instrument having near field communications (NFC) capability to communicate with one or more external devices.
Metrology instruments, such as portable articulated arm coordinate measuring machines (AACMMs), laser trackers, laser scanners and triangulation scanners for example, have found widespread use in the manufacturing or production of parts where there is a need to rapidly and accurately verify the dimensions of the part during various stages of the manufacturing or production (e.g., machining). Portable metrology instruments represent a vast improvement over known stationary or fixed, cost-intensive and relatively difficult to use measurement installations, particularly in the amount of time it takes to perform dimensional measurements of relatively complex parts. In the instance of a portable AACMM, the user simply guides a probe along the surface of the part or object to be measured. The measurement data are then recorded and provided to the user. In some cases, the data are provided to the user in visual form, for example, three-dimensional (3-D) form on a computer screen. In other cases, the data are provided to the user in numeric form, for example when measuring the diameter of a hole, the text “Diameter=1.0034” is displayed on a computer screen.
An example of a prior art portable articulated arm CMM is disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,582 ('582), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The '582 patent discloses a 3-D measuring system comprised of a manually-operated articulated arm CMM having a support base on one end and a measurement probe at the other end. Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,147 ('147), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses a similar articulated arm CMM. In the '147 patent, the articulated arm CMM includes a number of features including an additional rotational axis at the probe end, thereby providing for an arm with either a two-two-two or a two-two-three axis configuration (the latter case being a seven axis arm).
Accordingly, while existing metrology instruments are suitable for their intended purposes the need for improvement remains, particularly in providing a method and apparatus for communicating between the metrology instrument and a device to allow the operator to control a metrology instrument, configure the metrology instrument, or change parameters on the metrology instrument.